West Central Ohio: On the Right Track

1995 was good to West Central Ohio. That was the year two of the biggest distribution plums fell into sites in Clark and Fayette counties.

Gordon Foods announced plans to build a $50 million food distribution facility in Springfield (pop. 70,000), and Advance Auto Parts announced a $13 million distribution center for the tiny town of Jeffersonville (pop. 1,300) in Fayette County.

Gordon Foods selected Springfield after a year-long search in several Midwestern states for a suitable site.

At capacity, the facility will employ 250 and will ship some 200 truckloads of product a day from the 340,000-sq. ft., highly automated center.

Gordon Foods will distribute to a four-state region. It is the eighth largest food distributor in the nation.

Of course, distribution has long favored this part of Ohio. Interstate highway access is excellent, with I-70 and I-71 slicing through the region and I-75 not far away.

But what strongly ties the three counties together is service by the short line Indiana & Ohio Rail System, a critical component of the region's transportation mix,

Continued rail service is the result of quick action by the West Central Ohio Port Authority which stepped in when two Class I carriers pared back their service. The authority acquired the track and leased it to the I&O, an Ohio-based railroad. Today it is a solid contributor to the region's transportation assets.

The region is marketing several prime sites along the I&O. Among them:

• Champaign County's 64-acre site in Urbana on State Route 55 is fully served with electricity, gas, water and sewer. Champaign has a substantial agribusiness and industrial base. Urbana (pop. 11,350), the county seat, has a vibrant downtown, with a good cross-section of retail and banking services.

Service by the I&O contributed to the retention and expansion of existing industry and helped attract a new one. Dow Brands, for example, manufactures and distributes from Urbana, occupying a rail-served 300,000-sq. ft. production and distribution center. LEWISystems, a division of Menasha Corp. and a maker of automotive plastics, needed rail for receiving plastic pellets and has undertaken a substantial expansion because of I&O service. And Howard Paper, a division of Fox River Paper Co., also a rail user, recently developed a new 120,000-sq. ft. distribution facility.

I&O short line service gives customers a choice for the long haul.

• Fayette County's 36-acre site on State Route 41 and I-71 is in the town of Jeffersonville. Fayette's location on I-71 has attracted a considerable number of auto suppliers, including YUSA, which makes rubber tubing for Honda and others; TFO Tech, an automotive metal forger; Auto Top (convertible tops); and Bundy, which produces steel tubing for the auto industry. Fayette County is also prime shopping territory, with two huge outlet malls.

• Clark County's 271-acre site on U.S. 68 in Springfield has an adjacent primary electric line which makes it attractive to large power users. Another 284-acre site on State Route 41 in South Charleston (pop. 1,600) is only eight miles from either I-70 or I-71. Several large distributors are based in Clark County, including O'Cedar/Vinings; M&M Restaurant Supply, a division of Keystone Foods which supplies McDonald's restaurants in a three-state area; Bob Evans Foods; and Aldi, a food distributor.

Clark County is a major automotive and truck-making center, with Navistar's truck assembly and body plant in Springfield.

All three counties are an excellent fit for just-in-time suppliers to the auto industry. They are in the middle of the "auto alley" from Detroit to Georgetown, Ky., and companies locating in the region can easily serve Navistar and General Motors, as well as Honda's nearby auto, motorcycle and engine plants.